2024 has been a strange year for movies with notable box office drops, flops, and hits to both audience numbers and engagement but none has been more surprising than the very evident drop in women and minorities on the screen which has been observed since 2023.

Over the last two decades, the American film industry has seen a steady rise in women characters playing larger roles and a more tangible presence of minorities including by race, ethnic groups, and those with disabilities. Until 2023, a study by the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative uncovered a 14 percentage point drop for women in leading roles from just the number of the previous year. The drop was observed in the other underrepresented minorities as well. Which had been on the rise to meet up with actual population demographics.

A total of 5,084 speaking characters made an appearance on screens and out of that number only 32 percent were women. In total, including major and minor roles.  If it seems strange that 50 percent of the population was only represented by 2 thirds of their actual numbers you are not alone. This number on screen could be argued to have been a result of audiences swaying studios’ decisions of what films get made falling back onto the old ‘formula’ accusations but this doesn’t explain the dip seen behind the screen.

The number of women behind the screen from, directors, composers, and crew dropped back flat to the same number from 2022. While it is no secret that studios are still downsizing from the combined hits of the post-pandemic and post-Hollywood strike it doesn’t explain why the diversity numbers dropped as much as it did.

Dr. Stacy L. Smith, head of the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative shared this quote in a report about findings on the lack of gender equality for screens, “It is clear that there is either a dismissal of women as an audience for more than one or two films per year, a refusal to find ways to create meaningful change, or both. If the industry wants to survive its current moment, it must examine its failure to employ half the population on screen.”